kah said. Jason remained locked in the
chair.

They were in the atmosphere, the gentle sighing against the hull
quickly climbed the scale to a shrill scream. The drive cut out and
they were in free fall. Air friction heated the outer hull white-hot
and the interior temperature quickly rose in spite of the cooling
unit.

"What's happening?" Mikah asked. "You seem to know more about this.
Are we through--going to crash?"

"Maybe. Could be only one of two things. Either the whole works has
folded up--in which case we are going to be scattered in very small
pieces all over the landscape, or the computer is saving itself for
one last effort. I hope that's it. They build computers smart these
days, all sort of problem-solving circuits. The hull and engines are
in good shape--but the controls spotty and unreliable. In a case like
this a good human pilot would let the ship drop as far and fast as it
could before switching on the drive. Then turn it on full--thirteen
gees or more, whatever he figured the passengers could take on the
couches. The hull would take a beating, but who cares. The control
circuits would be used the shortest amount of time in the simplest
manner."

"Do you think that's what is happening?" Mikah asked, getting into his
acceleration chair.

"That's what I _hope_ is happening. Going to unlock the cuffs before
you go to bed? It could be a bad landing and we might want to go
places in a hurry."

Mikah considered, then took out his gun. "I'll unlock you, but I
intend to shoot if you try anything. Once we are down you will be
locked in again."

"Thanks for small blessings," Jason said, rubbing his wrists.

Deceleration jumped on them, kicked the air from their lungs in
uncontrollable gasps, sank them deep into the yielding couches.
Mikah's gun was pressed into his chest, too heavy to lift. It made no
difference, Jason could not stand nor move. He hovered on the border
of consciousness, his vision flickering behind a black and red haze.

Just as suddenly the pressure was gone.

They were still falling.

The drive groaned in the stern of the ship and relays chattered. But
it didn't start again. The two men stared at each other, unmoving, for
the unmeasurable unit of time that the ship fell.

As the ship dropped it turned and hit at an angle. The end came for
Jason in an engulfing wave of thunder, shock and pain. Sudden impact
pushed him against the restraining straps, burst them with the inertia